Intelligent, social, playful and curious, chimpanzees and orangutans have fascinated people around the world. Their similarities with humans make them irresistible to watch and one of the most popular animals to visit at zoos.

Photo by: Emily Richardson

CHIMPANZEES
Chimpanzees are considered one of the great apes. They are found in the tropical forests and savannas of Western and Central Africa. They spend about half their time in the trees and the other half traveling on the ground. Their bodies are covered by coarse dark brown hair, except for their face, fingers, toes, palms and soles of the feet. Their thumbs and toes are opposable so they can grip virtually anything.

As omnivores, their diet mainly consists of fruits, leaves, nuts, seeds, insects, and small prey. Chimpanzees have a highly complicated social structure. They exist in groups of 20 to over 150 individuals. Within the main group there are smaller groups that interact with each other more frequently. The main group will only come together for special occasions.

Photo by: Emily Richardson

ORANGUTANS
Another member of the great apes is the orangutan. Like the chimpanzee, the orangutan is highly intelligent. They have long arms with reddish brown hair and both males and females have long beards. Orangutans spend most of their time lounging in trees. They make nests in these trees so they can rest, similar to how humans make their beds. The diet of the orangutan is very similar to the chimpanzee in that they eat anything from fruit to insects. They are only found in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

Orangutans are generally gentle and passive creatures, but will become aggressive when defending their territory. Males tend to be more solitary while females may stay in a small group of other females or with their young. Like many other animals the orangutan is a highly endangered animal. Habitat loss due to logging, mining, fires and the trapping of young orangutans are the two main factors that threaten this species.

Resources for this article have been provided by Wikipedia.